Basketmaker III and Pueblo I Communities of Architectural Practice in the Chuska Valley, New Mexico

Summary

This research investigates communities of architectural practice of Basketmaker III and Pueblo I period (AD 500-875) residents of the Chuska Valley in northwest New Mexico to understand social networks and levels of interaction among groups throughout the Colorado Plateau of the American Southwest. Understanding social networks and migration patterns during the late Basketmaker and early Pueblo periods can provide insight into early population aggregation, population movement, and regional interaction prior to the explosion of the Chacoan phenomenon throughout the Colorado Plateau. In an attempt to avoid the all-too-common archaeological practice of simply linking social identity, ethnicity, and single types of material culture, this project explores different architectural traditions present within the Chuska Valley by approaching architectural traditions as communities of practice. Strong ties between the Chaco, Chuska, and (eastern and western) Mesa Verde regions during the Basketmaker III period, including small-scale probably family unit-sized migrations from the Mesa Verde region, demonstrates well connected social networks among distant Basketmaker III and Pueblo I groups that probably set the stage for larger scale migrations into the Chuska and Chaco regions during the subsequent late Pueblo I and early Pueblo II periods (a few decades before AD 900). Additional support for well-connected social networks among distant groups is evidenced by small-scale migration of Chuskan architectural practice into regions further south (Puerco Valley, Arizona and west-central New Mexico) during the late Basketmaker III and Pueblo I periods.